My name is Dr. Nicole O’Brien. I work in William Penn School District in Pennsylvania. I am a contracted district-wide school psychologist. I complete testing evaluations for students of all grade levels, but the majority of my caseload is elementary school students followed by high school students. I am currently entering my 4th year as a school psychologist, and it can become overwhelming to manage testing schedules, evaluation due dates, and IEP meetings. Using a Google spread sheet and an Outlook calendar have been invaluable in helping me keep track of and log various tasks. I also sometimes use a sticky note or notepad to write reminders for what I need to do the next day.
I have started adopting routines to maintain my mental health at school. When possible, usually on a day dedicated to report writing, I walk outside for at least 15 minutes during my lunch break. I have stopped taking work home. It has done wonders for reducing the burnout I felt during my first year.
Evaluations are intensive but I enjoy the analytical process of seeing how children tackle unfamiliar and familiar problems in different ways. It’s amazing to see how clever and thoughtful our students are when presented with various challenges on a cognitive or achievement test. On some sections, I’ve had students try to excitedly show and tell how they arrived at an answer, complete with gestures and a step-by-step guide, only for me to gently remind them that they are being timed until they tell me their answer. They are incredibly hard workers!
Currently, I am preparing for the start of the 2024-2025 school year. I am looking forward to further developing my skills as a school psychologist and working with our community to ensure our students receive the support they need for a successful school year.